In his first letter to the believers in Corinth the Apostle Paul addresses a problem that has begun to develop there. Believers are starting to separate from one another and follow their favorite teachers. He challenges them with the questions; “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? He does so as a means to compel them to refocus on their roots and their hope, Christ and him crucified. Some years later in his second letter to his spiritual son and friend Timothy he looked prophetically into the future telling of a time: “when they (future believers) will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers…” He cautioned Timothy to stay true to the roots and hope of his faith. Today as we look at that prophecy in reverse we see the erosion of the unity the early believers were entrusted to keep, as false teachers, doctrines and prophets crept in and by the use of their teachings diminished the power and effectiveness of the message of the Gospel. Until the middle ages the believers were “catholic” from the Greek, meaning universal. The English word catholic comes from two Greek words, Kata meaning with respect to and Holos meaning whole, so the early believers were known, not by the English word catholic, but by the very nature of their root and hope in Christ and him crucified with respect to the whole teaching of Christ and his apostles. In 1054 what is referred to as the “Great Schism” took place when Greek speaking believers of the Byzantine Empire split with the Latin speaking believers of Western traditions. By 1378 and up until 1417 the western schism was split between two rival “Popes.” Around 1414 the council of Constance tried to fix the problem but only served to further the chasm of separation between the root and hope in Christ and him crucified by demanding that believers give unquestioning loyalty to a single man as God’s vicar on earth. And Oh how far things had strayed from the central teachings of the Apostles and Jesus, God in the flesh himself that there, “is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time…” not mortal man acting as the mediator between God and man. From there divisions continued, with each current mainline denomination having their roots in movements that separated them from other believers because of doctrinal differences. Each of today’s major denominations roots can be traced back to those splits that have further divided believers. Today a vast majority of believers can quote their favorite teachers more readily than the Bible and tend to hang more on what they say rather than what the Bible teaches. As followers of the Way one must always strive to remember that Paul’s prophecy about this given to Timothy is the day which we live in. False teachers abound as well as false prophets, apostles and deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. Some secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. In our time much emphasis is placed on the amount of education a pastor or teacher has under their belt. However; the early believers had no Bible colleges or seminaries to attend. Those who opposed them; “saw their boldness… and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. As Follower of the Way they learned from being with Jesus, and when one does the same it ramps up the effectiveness of what God has called us to do. They spent time with Jesus for us by proxy, John 20, so that we could, via the Bible spend time with him as well. Why not put the devotional book away for a time and learn from the Word itself what God through his spirit would say to you rather than what you think God is saying through someone else? God through the prophet Amos said; ““Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD.” Physically there are two types of famine. Even though healthy food abounds, people are famished for lack of nutrition because of the “junk food” they eat. Spiritually it is the same with God’s living Word. That which all the false teachers, prophets and apostles teach spiritually is tantamount to junk food. People are famished spiritually because of the lack of hearing the words of the LORD. As a Follower of the Way one is challenged to not pick sides in this great schism called denominational-ism or even non- denominational-ism because division is division no matter what name it carries. My hope is that like Joshua you come to understand that God is not picking the sides for us in our denominations or for our adversaries in theirs. He comes as the Commander of the Lord’s army and is thereby showing us we must align with him and him alone. The root and hope of our faith is in Christ alone and him crucified. Refocus on the Way that Jesus taught and is, by reading and studying only the Bible and you will find yourself filled and satisfied in ways you never imagined.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 20:59:59 +0000
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